When Kate, a 47-year-old contract worker came face to face with Charlotte Brontë’s handwriting while visiting Chatsworth House, the avid reader, who counts Jane Eyre as her favourite book, struggled to contain her excitement.“I had a little bit of a moment,” she said. “I just thought: ‘Wow, that was actually Charlotte Brontë’s writing there on that page.’ That was pretty special.” (Aamna Mohdin)
That sense of personal connection appears again in a letter from Elizabeth Gaskell to the 6th Duke of Devonshire, written after her visit to Chatsworth in 1857.In it, she thanks the Duke for his hospitality and encloses as a gift a letter she had received from Charlotte Brontë, which she described as the most interesting she had ever received from her. It was not something she would have parted with lightly.
We can only speculate on what they discussed, but the Duke had strong literary interests and only the previous month had made a visit to see Patrick Brontë in Haworth. Gaskell’s famous biography of her friend Charlotte Brontë had appeared earlier in 1857. It was received with much praise, but Gaskell also faced a barrage of complaints from people who felt they had been misrepresented in the book – and in two cases legal action was threatened. She had therefore spent a stressful summer revising it for a new, third edition.From the outset, her biography provoked fascination with the lives of Charlotte Brontë and her sisters, and in subsequent years more and more literary tourists made the journey to Haworth to see where they had lived and written their novels. It seems the Duke of Devonshire was amongst the earliest of these literary pilgrims – probably prompted by Gaskell’s book.The morning after their dinner, Gaskell sat down in her room to write the letter in which she so vividly described her visit, using ‘a delicious pen’. She confessed that she had no idea where she was supposed to go for breakfast ‘in this wilderness of a palace of a house’.However, she and Meta successfully made their way home in the end, and Gaskell wrote a thank-you letter to the Duke for his hospitality; she also thanked him for his ‘sympathizing words’, suggesting she confided in him some of the troubles she had experienced over her biography of Charlotte Brontë. Enclosed with the letter was a precious gift for the Duke: ‘I have the greatest pleasure in the world in sending you the enclosed letter from Charlotte Brontë to me [which] I have chosen out as being, in my opinion, the most interesting I ever received from her, and consequently the one I like best to offer to your Grace.’
“4 Janes” is a reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel “Jane Eyre.” In this version there are four different parallel lives that the titular character might have had if she had taken another path. These alternate possibilities span space and time taking Jane to India, Burma (now Myanmar) and Vietnam. Over the wider geography, each thread remains rooted in the original character’s maternal love and grief.While the literary classic takes place on the weather-torn moors of Northern England, the inspiration for “4 Janes” was born on a trip to Vietnam. In Huế, a city in the center of the country, Yee and her husband came across a bookstall where the shopkeeper was intently focused on a novel.“What was so interesting was that she was reading an abridged copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ to teach herself English,” says Yee. “I was so interested in that very unexpected juxtaposition, because Jane Eyre is this iconic Western classic and I didn’t expect to see it in central Vietnam in this context.”From there, the possibilities seemed endless. By resetting the novel within a global framework, Yee is able to examine the complex history between East and West as well as the internal turmoil experienced by Jane. (...)The early feminist angle of “Jane Eyre” also makes it primed for reinterpretation.“People often think of her as a kind of a proto-feminist before feminism as a term came up,” says Yee. “She’s this very resilient, very strong, very courageous person and she’s had a difficult life but she manages to overcome her difficulties through her own intelligence and her wits.” (...)Yee hopes her novel inspires readers to pick up the original “Jane Eyre” and to explore the themes of empowerment that extend through both books. They serve as a reminder that classical literature, including Brontë’s novel, still have much to teach modern audiences.Yee says, “I hope readers take away the inspiration of a heroine who learns to rely on herself, regains independence, learns resilience, respects herself and her decisions and takes life on her own terms, including her love life.” (Celina Colby)
Even Cathy, the teenage heroine of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights has been recast as mid-30s Margot Robbie in a lust-fest fever dream directed by 40-year-old Emerald Fennell. (Nicola Cutcher)
Durante años hemos repetido casi automáticamente que falta talento. Sin embargo, el informe Hidden Workers elaborado por Joseph Fuller y su equipo en Harvard Business School plantea preguntas incómodas: ¿y si el problema no fuera la ausencia de talento, sino nuestra incapacidad para reconocerlo? ¿Y si nuestros propios procesos de selección, promoción y desarrollo estuvieran dejando fuera a personas perfectamente capaces de aportar valor simplemente porque no responden al perfil esperado? Las hermanas Brontë nos recuerdan que el talento necesita disciplina, curiosidad y trabajo. Pero también ecosistemas donde crecer, personas que crean en él y líderes capaces de mirar más allá de los prejuicios. (Adela Balderas) (Translation)
Releyendo estos días «Jane Eyre», uno de esos novelones a los que el tiempo no consigue envejecer, no puedo evitar evocar la figura de su autora, Charlotte Brontë. Saber quién fue, asomarse a su vida y conocer las heridas que la acompañaron permite regresar a sus páginas con otros ojos. Charlotte Brontë medía poco más de metro cuarenta; sus vestidos, guantes y zapatos conservados hoy en Haworth parecen casi los de una niña. Pero dentro de aquel cuerpo diminuto había una voz que la Inglaterra victoriana no estaba preparada para escuchar. (...) (José María Zavala) (Translation)
The Economic Times (India) announces the OTT release of Wuthering Heights 2026 in India. BookClub publishes an AI article about novels everyone knows, and few people read; the LLM model includes Jane Eyre in the list.
Wed 15 July, 10am-4pmThe Servant's Room, Brontë Parsonage MuseumListen to Sophia Hatfield’s entertaining take on local stories and folklore - with music, costume and props! Drop in during your Museum visit!
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July 15 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pmThe Old School Rooms, Church Street, Haworth, BD22 8DRThe world famous Brontë Sisters cope with nightclubs, TV adaptations and life events - with original songs and a kicking bonnet.This show "brings Charlotte to life" in the very place where she had her wedding reception! It imagines her coping with the modern day Edinburgh Fringe, yet also deals with real life events, all illustrated with original songs, accompanied by harp.Written and performed by singer/songwriter and lifelong Brontë fan Pauline Vallance, this show has been described as "having heart as well as laughs" and "the highlight of my trip to Haworth". It has been presented in Haworth, at the Morecambe, Dundee and Wandsworth Fringes and at Patrick Brontë's Homeland.
Ghosts are a prominent theme in the Brontë sisters’ work, so perhaps it’s fitting that my first evening in their birthplace is spent listening for creaks on the staircase. Like Jane Eyre lying awake in Thornfield Hall, it’s almost too easy to visualise spirits lurking somewhere in the shadows beyond my phone charger.I am lucky enough to spend two nights at Brontë Birthplace, the character homestay in Thornton, located on the western edges of Bradford. The restored Georgian home also doubles as a museum and cafe. Once the home of Patrick and Maria Brontë, the sisters and their brother Patrick Branwell are thought to have all been born here before the family moved to Haworth in 1820.Anna and Mark, the custodians of the property and passionate history buffs, greet guests with infectious energy. Painstaking effort has been put into furnishing the space with genuine antiques, including a four-poster bed, chaise lounge, and a chamber pot discreetly tucked under the bed. Mark gently asks me not to use it, and I very considerately oblige.My tour of the birthplace is full of the kind of detail that collapses the space between history and adaptation. A life-size cut-out of Jacob Elordi has become a particular favourite of Mark’s, he explains. Hidden behind doors, the 6′4 heartthrob is perfect for startling unsuspecting guests - an apparition many would perhaps long to encounter at the end of a dark corridor.At curry house El Manzil, a few doors down, I marvel at the unique ways locals have reinvented the family’s legacy. Anna had described the sisters as “yassified”, and looking at their affectionately irreverent depictions on the menu, I’m inclined to agree.Located 10km northwest of Thornton is Haworth. Shrouded in a careful negotiation between Gothic romanticism and ordinary village life. In describing the town as quaint, I risk underselling it. The cobblestone streets and preserved shopfronts are both atmospheric and startlingly lived-in.On a springtime Saturday morning, it’s bustling with day-trippers and locals in hair rollers, and a craft fair is being held in the old parsonage. I buy a merino beret and gloves for £13 (NZ$30) in a vague attempt to look as though I belong here, to no avail.The Brontë Parsonage Museum is meticulously laid out with artifacts and scholarship in every room, each object arranged with a care that humanises three women who have become mythic figures.Unique exhibitions, like Layla Khoo’s recreation of the manuscript for Wuthering Heights, showcase the collective storytelling that keeps their memory alive. Each sentence of the novel is in the hand of a different person who felt tethered to someone long dead, an example of how literature builds an unlikely intimacy between strangers.The cemetery next to the parsonage has an eerie kind of beauty, the headstones unevenly reclaimed by the earth. Several members of the family are buried in a vault beneath St Michael and All Angel’s Church, below where patriarch Patrick would have given sermons to the village.Lunch at the Haworth Old Post Office is a highlight, offering refined dining in a building that still feels somewhat like it has letters to sort. The original counter has been kept, and the owners are kind enough to show me the Victorian cash drawer; its century-old compartments still intact.Salomon’s weren’t launched until 1947, so I set off in boots and a long skirt to maintain historical accuracy. Trudging along through the brush, the idea wanes slightly in romanticism, replaced by the more immediate feeling that Victorian women were much hardier than I, and probably cold most of the time.For Kiwis, the scenery of the north is not altogether unfamiliar: sloping banks of green teem with livestock, patchwork farmland that at times resembles Waikato. But this, of course, doesn’t make the moorland any less breathtaking.Mossy, jagged rocks and dry-stone walls cut through the hillsides, some engraved with words that aren’t fit for publication. It somehow deepens the historic character of the whole walk, like the landscape itself has become an archive over time.The Keighley and Worth Railway offers its own panoramic views of the countryside, the standing corridors packed with visitors jostling for the best window position. As we loop around, trackside onlookers film the vintage carriage, a continuation of the British infatuation with trains, I find both endearing and inexplicable.Later that evening, I indulge another English obsession - Spain - by ordering a tapas selection at Pave, where locals balance sangrias al fresco. People pass and chat throughout the village, the narrow streets assuming renewed energy as dusk falls.Parting with the birthplace itself is more difficult than I expected, despite a fair few more bumps in the night. I get the sense I, like so many before me, have left my own mark here without even realising it. (Imogene Bedford)
I read everything from the Chalet School series to Jane Eyre, focusing – I see now – on girls’ experiences. Consuming two or three books a day, rereading constantly, I liked a series, and I liked the gentle pace and complex prose of 19th- and earlier 20th-century writing. Growing up in an unpredictable household, I enjoyed fictional domestic routines, but growing up hiking and travelling a lot, I also liked landscape, adversity and exertion. (Sarah Moss)
Perhaps having a high schooler and feeling slightly nostalgic is what has pulled me back, this summer, to those days of summer reading assignments – and not just any reading, but specifically mid-to-late 19th-century literature.What I’ve found is that there’s something really special about reading, with grown-up eyes, the same pieces of literature I was assigned as a teenager. I have the same copy of "Jane Eyre" that was mine in 1999, and have found myself equally impressed and embarrassed by some of the notes 15-year-old Abbey wrote in the margins: “Why don’t they just get together?!?”I see things now that I did not before: what my 15-year-old self would have classified as stubbornness in a character, my 41-year-old self deeply admires as strength; what my 15-year-old self blindly accepted as true love, my 41-year-old self questions as a possible lapse in judgement but also allows for different societal norms.I read “Wuthering Heights” for the first time because it somehow bypassed me three decades ago, and to be honest, I didn’t love it. (Can I say that?) But I’m glad to be able to check it off my “To Be Read” list.Regardless of questionable familial relationships and flawed heroes, I’ve come to appreciate century-old literature for the way it makes me think, the way it takes time for me to flip a switch in my brain that takes me from 2026 to 1840-something. (Abbey Roy)
Funkcje wątków gotyckich w Wichrowych Wzgórzach Emily Brontë oraz Pogance Narcyzy Żmichowskiej (The Functions of Gothic Themes in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and The Heathen by Narcyza Żmichowska)by Szklarz, WeronikaJuly 1, 2026Zarówno w Wichrowych Wzgórzach Emily Brontë, jak i w Pogance Narcyzy Żmichowskiej występują elementy charakterystyczne dla „formuły gotyckiej”. Niniejsza praca stanowi analizę porównawczą sposobu wykorzystania przez pisarki wątków gotyckich, a jej celem jest wskazanie ich funkcji w wymowie obu dzieł. Autorka wyznacza najważniejsze cechy powieści gotyckiej, przeprowadza analizę konstrukcji przestrzeni i ich wpływu na bohaterów, a także omawia kreację postaci przypominających gotyckich łotrów. Ponadto podkreślono znaczenie sił nadprzyrodzonych w obu utworach oraz wyjaśniono, w jaki sposób gotycka maska służy wprowadzeniu kwestii takich jak związki nieheteronormatywne, dyskryminacja rasowa oraz opresyjność norm płciowych. Praca dowodzi, że wątki gotyckie w utworach Brontë i Żmichowskiej nie tylko tworzą atmosferę grozy, lecz za sprawą kategorii „niewypowiadalności” umożliwiają równoczesne ukrycie i wyeksponowanie tematów niemożliwych do wyrażenia wprost. Tym samym zestawienie Wichrowych Wzgórz i Poganki ujawnia transgresyjny potencjał gotycyzmu, pozwalający na wpisanie obu powieści w szeroki kontekst społeczno-kulturowy.Both Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and The Heathen by Narcyza Żmichowska feature elements from “the Gothic formula”. The thesis is a comparative analysis of the usage of Gothic themes, and its aim is to state their functions in the novels’ message. The author of the thesis outlines the most important features of the Gothic novel, analyses the construction of the spaces and their influence on the characters and considers the characterisation of these who resemble Gothic villains. Furthermore, meaning of the supernatural forces is highlighted, and also it is explained how the gothic disguise serves to introduce issues such as queer relationships, racial discrimination and oppressiveness of gender norms. The thesis proves that the gothic themes in Brontë’s and Żmichowska’s novels not only create horror atmosphere but also, through the category of “unspeakable”, enable the simultaneous concealment and unveiling of topics that cannot be expressed directly. Therefore, a comparison of Wuthering Heights and The Heathen reveals the transgressive potential of Gothicism, which allows both novels to be situated within a socio-cultural context.
Чартистское движение в романах Шарлотты Бронте и Элизабет Гаскелл (he Chartist Movement in the Novels of Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell)Dmitrienko K. V.Current issues of translation, linguistics, history of literature and folklore: collection of articles from the XIV International scientific conference of young scientists dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Department of Foreign Languages (Ekaterinburg, February 19-20, 2026). - Ekaterinburg: Publishing house "Azhur", 2026. - P. 1224-1236.This article analyzes how the Chartist movement is reflected in Charlotte Brontë's social novels Shirley (1849) and Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South (1855). It examines ideas about Chartism that existed in British society and how they were depicted in women's fiction of the second half of the 19th century. Particular attention is paid to the images of the characters through which the writers convey their attitudes to the social problems of their era.
Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte BrontëAn orphan raised in difficult circumstances, Jane Eyre refuses to submit to the injustices that mark her life. After becoming a governess at the mysterious Thornfield Hall, she meets Edward Rochester, a landowner who is as fascinating as he is enigmatic.Darker than Pride and Prejudice, this great classic nevertheless shares one of its essential ingredients: an intelligent, independent heroine determined to preserve her freedom. Charlotte Brontë crafts an intense romance driven by a protagonist whose strength of character recalls that of Elizabeth Bennet. (Amandine Enard-Hauger)
What truly makes a love story memorable is loss. Death casts a shadow over the lovers’ hopes and lends their passion gravity. Emily Brontë kills Catherine in Wuthering Heights; Erich Segal kills the beloved Jenny in Love Story; Tolstoy sends Anna Karenina beneath the wheels of a train. Even when death is absent, yearning serves the same purpose. Scott Spencer’s lyrical Endless Love sustains itself on obsession, separation and unattainability. The finest love stories rarely offer satisfaction. Instead, they leave behind hope, longing and an enduring belief in the impossible.Curdella Forbes’s A Tall History of Sugar belongs to this tradition. (Berkley Wendell Semple)
Alison Oliver in ‘Wuthering Heights’ (Emerald Fennell, 2026)Wuthering Heights earned a lot of backlash for Jacob Elordi’s casting as Heathcliff, who is implied to be a mixed-race character in Emily Brontë’s novel, but there is just as much issue with Margot Robbie being cast to play Catherine Earnshaw, who was too old to play a character who dies when she is a teenager, and she also has too much rigidity and spunk to portray a romantic lead defined as reserved.The obvious casting choice to play Cathy would have been Alison Oliver, who appears in the film as Isabella Linton, and has much better chemistry with Elordi. While Isabelle is an exaggerated character, it’s easy to imagine Oliver having the emotional capacity to make the role of Cathy both heartbreaking and tragically naive, based on her impressive performance in the HBO drama series Task. (Liam Gaughan)
Once a day, 13-19 July, 2:00pmMeet outside the Museum ShopFor Bradford Heritage Festival, we're holding a guided moorland walk to Penistone Hill once a day. We’ll discover the landscape that inspired the Brontës and explore some remnants of its industrial past.Approximately takes 1hr 30mins. The walk is quite short, but includes some hills and rough ground underfoot, so sturdy footwear is essential.If the event is cancelled, we’ll contact you. We reserve the right to make changes to our programme. All information is correct at the time of booking. We kindly ask that you do not bring dogs or other pets to our in-person events unless stated otherwise (if you'd like to bring your service dog to an event, please let us know).
Bradford City have announced their new mascot, Brontë Bantam, in an announcement video that links to world-renowned authors Charlotte and Emily Brontë.The club have now created a sibling duo of mascots that truly represent the community and family atmosphere that surrounds the club.But they have also done it by bringing in the local area, specifically highlighting Haworth and the Brontë sisters, a beloved part of the West Yorkshire area and its history. (Sophie Bates)
How do you approach reading classics? I find it hard to get past the older language.Donaldson: I think the main challenge is attuning your ear to the unfamiliar language and pacing. But what feels awkward on page five often starts to feel natural by page fifty.Start with classics that are genuine page-turners: Jane Eyre, The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Count of Monte Cristo and virtually anything by Austen or Dickens all have strong narrative momentum, making the language easier to settle into than, say, behemoths like Moby-Dick, Middlemarch or The Brothers Karamazov.And do not feel obligated to slog through every book you try. Some became classics because they changed literature, not because they’re rollicking yarns. I also don’t think the goal shouldn’t be to check titles off a list – it’s to find the books that have earned their reputation because they still have the power to move/grab us.
Hardy and Free has been created by award-winning Yorkshire photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn and takes its name from a line in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights: “I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free...”It was originally commissioned by the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth in 2023 as part of its contemporary arts programme and then a new series of large-scale portraits with audio from the women involved, was created for Bradford 2025, UK City of Culture and adorned Kirkgate Shopping Centre.The photographs, which are three metres by two metres each are hung in a huge barn where they used to show the pigeons on the Yorkshire Show Ground.Hardy and Free explores the relationship between 12 contemporary women and the natural world, all sharing a profound emotional link with the landscapes that shape them. (Catherine Scott)
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Sunday, 12 July 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00Loading Bay, BD1 3QRJoin volunteer Mark Musolf as he reflects on his remarkable journey at the Brontë Birthplace growing from casual helper to committee member, acclaimed tour guide, and a cornerstone of the Birthplace community.As part of the Brontë Birthplace team he shares the fascinating stories of the Brontë family and this special house, helping others to connect with the Brontës’ legacy and leave with a deeper appreciation of both the family’s story and the place where it began.In this insightful talk, Musolf charts the history of the project, its evolving aims and the tremendous successes achieved through dedication, collaboration and local pride.
Irene Lofthouse
Folkloric Legends and Influences of the BrontësSunday, 12 July 2026 | 13:30 – 14:30Loading Bay, BD1 3QRThe Brontë children were surrounded by storytellers from birth, hearing tales from different voices and areas. With parents from the North of Ireland and Cornwall, both places redolent with myths, legends, and their own stories related in geographical accents.Listening to genteel Thornton company would have contrasted much with servants’ speech, which in turn would have been different to that in Haworth and Keighley.Dialect, myths and legends in each place were influenced by past migration, and new communities settling in the areas during the Brontës’ lives.In this talk, Irene looks at these influences, the accents and dialect the Brontës heard around them, on visits to Keighley, and how these may have found their way into their written work.
Sunday, 12 July 2026 | 14:45 – 15:45Loading Bay, BD1 3QStep into the shadowed world of passion, obsession and moral ambiguity in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.Join acclaimed Brontë scholar Dr Claire O’Callaghan and popular literary culture specialist Dr Jo Parsons for a thought-provoking discussion exploring the novel’s dark romantic legacy and its influence on contemporary phenomena, such as Twilight, After and The Vampire Diaries. Together, they will examine the enduring appeal of dark romance tropes including longing, intensity and toxicity, while questioning the ethics behind these narratives.Is Heathcliff a romantic hero or something far more troubling? Discover why stories of destructive love continue to captivate audiences across generations and popular culture today.
Sunday, 12 July 2026 | 16:00 – 17:00Loading Bay, BD1 3QRWith new adaptations and viral discussions bringing classic literature to new audiences, the Brontë sisters are once again at the centre of cultural conversation.Join acclaimed author Lucasta Miller and renowned Brontë scholar Dr Claire O’Callaghan as they explore how our understanding of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë continues to evolve in the 21st century.From Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre to modern film and television adaptations, this engaging discussion examines why the Brontës’ stories of passion, ambition and rebellion still resonate today.Discover how contemporary audiences are reshaping the myths, legacy and enduring appeal of one of literature’s most celebrated families.
The birthplace of the Brontë sisters will host an event looking at its own history as part of Bradford Literature Festival.The Brontë Birthplace in Thornton re-opened last year, and on Friday Bradford-born heritage champion Steve Stanworth will share his 26‑year journey restoring and celebrating the building.The event, being held at the Thornton attraction, is part of Bradford Literature Festival, and will take place at 6.30pm on Friday.At the event, Mr Stanworth will explain how he helped to return the Brontë Birthplace on Market Street to its Regency character.He has also played a central role in restoring the Brontë Bell Chapel and, with Christa Ackroyd, created the Brontë exhibition at St James’ Church.Patrick Brontë himself wrote that his happiest years were spent in Thornton, a sentiment that underpins Steve’s lifelong dedication to preserving this remarkable heritage.
7. Helen Graham escapes her disastrous marriage to Arthur Huntingdon in which Anne Brontë novel? (Olav Bjortomt)
It will be necessary to see if Kazan's adaptation maintains the epic and tragic spirit of the author, who delves into the problem of identity, betrayal, inheritance, and love without concessions, or if it creates a digestible product, as Emerald Fennell did with Wuthering Heights, which Mariana Enríquez described as a "boring and silly" film, as it turned a dark and demonic story that explores the beauty of the abyss, depression, and love for darkness into something sexy. Will the same happen with Steinbeck? We will see. (Pol Guasch)
When Merrick is revealed, the reactions from those who see him are almost uniformly panicked (though some respond with a commingling of the grotesque and erotic that wouldn’t be out of place in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights). (Jacob Oller)
The Telegraph India announces the Indian streaming premiere on JioHotstar of Wuthering Heights 2026. EuroWeekly News wonders about the Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever arriving in Potsdam. Vintage Reads posts about The Invention of Charlotte Brontë by Graham Watson.
Monroe County Public Library, Southwest Branch, Meeting Room ASaturday, July 11, 2:00pm - 5:00pmJoin us for our quarterly Movies vs. Books Club! Popcorn and candy will be provided during the movie. Age 18 and up.Read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, then join us to watch the 2011 film adaptation directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. You can request a copy of the book be placed on hold for you when you register to attend, or read or listen to a digital copy on Libby or Hoopla. Afterwards, we'll tackle the question: which was better—the book or the movie?Please contact Becky Craft at bcraft@mcpl.info if you have any questions about this program.
CANCELLEDSaturday, 11 July 2026 | 10:00 – 15:00The Old Bell Chapel, Thornton Road, Bradford, West YorkshireJoin Brontë Stones project creator Michael Stewart for a guided walking tour tracing the footsteps of the Brontë sisters from their birthplace in Thornton village to the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth.Crossing the stunning Yorkshire landscape, the walk explores specially commissioned responses to the Brontës by celebrated writers like Carol Ann Duffy, Kate Bush, Jackie Kay and Jeanette Winterson.This nine-mile linear trek takes around five hours and includes narrow styles, uneven ground and slippery surfaces.Appropriate footwear and weatherproof clothing are essential. Participants should also bring a packed lunch and plenty of water for a picnic stop along the route.
Saturday, 11 July 2026 | 16:00 – 19:30Cambridge House, BD5 0HStep into the shadows of a cinematic mystery with Wuthering Heights Rediscovered, an exhibition celebrating the lost 1920 silent film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s timeless classic.Drawing on the only surviving script and a remarkable collection of previously unseen photographs, the exhibition reconstructs and reimagines a film thought lost forever.Curated by Professor Rob Shail and Irfan Shah of Leeds Beckett University’s Early Cinema Research Group, and supported by the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, it offers a fascinating journey into early filmmaking, literary heritage and Yorkshire’s enduring gothic landscape.A must-see for film lovers, Brontë enthusiasts and admirers of the moors alike.
The Great Exhibition of 1851 wasn’t done by halves. It wasn’t value engineered to within an inch of its life and (I’m betting) it didn’t take a month to make a simple decision. That exhibition – designed to set out what this country had and could offer the world – is still referenced in textbooks as an example of Britain leading on the world stage. It was outward looking, but confident in the country’s collective national abilities. Leading thinkers and doers of the day were there. Michael Faraday, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Darwin, Lewis Carroll, Karl Marx and Alfred Tennyson were all in attendance. The perfect blend of science, philosophy and culture, under one giant glass roof of the (at the time, temporary) Crystal Palace. Queen Victoria herself allegedly visited more than 30 times.
From painting the walls of his family home as a child in Germany to creating eye-catching public murals here in west Clare, artist Marcus Vallboehmer has turned a lifelong passion for colour into a successful career.Now living in Farrihy, near Doonbeg, Marcus is the artist behind the striking new mural of Charlotte Brontë on the White Walls in Kilkee, celebrating the famous novelist’s connection to the seaside town.
Summer is also the time for adventure, whether that’s white water rafting or Finnegans Wake. You have energy, Vitamin D and oceans of time. Plus, sun and heat are the enemy of the screen. You can’t doomscroll on a beach.I remember exactly where I was when I first read Wuthering Heights (on a beach in Brittany), Catch-22 (a beach in southern Italy) and The Beach (a pool in Ibiza). Also, the frustration of not being able to escape completely into Emma Cline’s The Girls on a beach in Kerry when my kids were small. And many more.
Before the show, Ashi said he leaned further into the “Wuthering Heights” feeling of his spring effort and thought back to the Surrealist Ball given by Baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild in 1972, a soirée with the likes of Salvador Dalí, Princess Grace of Monaco and Audrey Hepburn in attendance. (Lily Templeton)
The question of adapting brilliant literature is not newly raised by this forthcoming limited series. Modern films have proven time and time again that renewed audience interest in their source texts can arise from the adaptive process. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, for example, saw viewers picking up copies of Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece, while Emerald Fennell’s interpretation of Wuthering Heights brought Brontë’s text back off the shelf, be it through inspiration or outrage. The texts didn’t need a spotlight shone on them, but their filmic twins formed a fruitful relationship of engagement between the different media. (Dan Porritt)
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10/07/2026 at 6:30 PM - 8:00 PMBrontë Birthplace, ThorntonBradford-born heritage champion Steve Stanworth shares his remarkable 26‑year journey restoring and celebrating Thornton’s extraordinary Brontë legacy.From transforming the Old Bell Chapel, where Patrick Brontë served as perpetual curate from 1815 to 1820, to creating the St James’ Church Brontë exhibition, which includes the font at which all the Brontë children, except Maria, were baptised.Stanworth explains how he helped to return the Brontë Birthplace on Market Street to its Regency character, Steve brings together the story of three landmark Brontë projects and the passion that has driven them.Patrick Brontë himself wrote that his happiest years were spent in Thornton, a sentiment that underpins Steve’s lifelong dedication to preserving this remarkable heritage.
Saturday, 11 July 2026 | 09:00 – 17:00The Midland Hotel, BD1 4HUBradford Literature Festival’s much-loved Brontë tour returns for another unforgettable journey into the lives and legacy of one of literature’s most celebrated families.Led by broadcaster and Brontë enthusiast Christa Ackroyd, this specially curated experience includes travel by vintage coach to the Brontës’ childhood home in Thornton village and lunch at Branwell Brontë’s favourite haunt, The Lord Nelson pub.Journey through the dramatic Yorkshire moors that inspired Wuthering Heights while uncovering fascinating stories from your expert guide.The tour also includes entry to the Brontë Parsonage Museum and an exclusive talk from museum staff exploring the enduring brilliance of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë.
In trying to explore the nuances of narrative theory I naturally gravitated to Joseph Campbell’s 1949 work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and the concept of the “monomyth”, a template for the “Hero’s Journey” in dramatic writing, a critical structure that has been applied to works as varied as the Epic of Gilgamesh, potentially the oldest surviving written epic, to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, to Star Wars.
Brontë Wilds is perfectly positioned close to Haworth, where the Brontë sisters lived and wrote their famous books. The stylish lakefront lodges – one with three bedrooms and the other with two – offer a serene haven with stunning views. Step out onto the private deck, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and soak in the tranquillity of the surrounding countryside. You can also watch steam trains pass by from the nearby Keighley and Worth Valley Railway – made famous by The Railway Children film. Haworth, with its charming cobbles and Brontë history, is nearby. A 20-minute drive away in Thornton is the fascinating Brontë Birthplace, where the sisters and their brother Branwell were born.Brontë Wilds, near Haworth.
Thursday 9 July, 2026 at 19:00The Bookery, 21 High Street, CreditonThe Bookery is delighted to welcome Amelia Blackwell for an evening of literary mystery and historic intrigue as she discusses her new novel, The Haunting of a Brontë with Devon crime writer Stephanie Austin, promising a lively evening of murder mystery, literary history and the enduring fascination of the Brontës.Tickets £5, ticketholders will receive 15% off purchases of The Haunting of a Brontë on the night.
Via The Moorlander.
2. Wuthering HeightsFilming has taken place on Bridestones Moor for a number of projects over the year's including BBC's The Gallows Pole, Riot Women and most recently the recent 2026 adaptation of Wuthering Heights. (Abigail Kellett)
El tropo de la mansión gótica viene de lejos y se sustenta sobre todo en dos novelas con asombrosas concomitancias, aun separadas por un siglo: Jane Eyre (1847), de Charlotte Brontë, y Rebecca (1938), de Daphne du Maurier, en la que se inspiró Alfred Hitchcock para su celebérrima película. En ambas obras el hogar adquiere un papel protagónico, ya sea la casa solariega de Thornfield Hall, coronada con almenas, o la finca de Manderley, a la que se accede por un sendero bordeado de enormes rododendros que estallan en flores rojo escarlata.Dos heroínas jóvenes e inexpertas irrumpen en las vidas de dos caballeros de pasado turbio (el señor Rochester y el viudo Maxim de Winter). En ambas obras, algo extraño ha sucedido con las respectivas primeras esposas: Berta Mason se ha vuelto loca y su marido la mantiene encerrada en el desván de un torreón; en la segunda, Rebecca ha muerto en un supuesto accidente de navegación. De igual forma afloran coincidencias en sendos finales: el fuego purificador y el triunfo del amor romántico; o la idea de él. (Olga Merino) (Translation)
Afterword Bookshop, 216 East 6rh Street, New York NY 10003July 8, 7pmJoin Deborah Lutz as she discusses her new book This Dark Night: Emily Brontë, A Life, in conversation with Amanda Vaill.Emily Brontë (1818–1848) was only twenty-seven-years old when she began work on one of the most important novels in the English language. Two years later in 1847, she completed Wuthering Heights. It took the world almost a century to catch up to Brontë’s masterpiece, and it has taken even longer to know Brontë―an elusive figure, with a ghostly legacy provoked by her early death and the loss (and likely destruction) of almost all her personal papers.Drawing on formerly inaccessible notebooks and manuscripts, This Dark Night constructs a portrait of Brontë, her famous writing sisters Charlotte and Anne, and the effect of their sisters’ and mother’s tragic deaths. In the first full-length biography in over twenty years, renowned scholar Deborah Lutz sketches the days of a woman crafting otherworldly fiction while running her father’s parsonage: writing interweaving with household work, daydreaming, and exploring the rough-hewn outdoors.As she traces the influence of Brontë’s life and work, Lutz follows how Brontë’s fantastical early poems of the night sky, women rulers, and outsiders and rebels grew into the stormy, transcendent Wuthering Heights. Lutz also illuminates the overlooked ways that the legendary writer addressed debates of her time that still resonate today, including questions of gender and sexuality, race and class, and rapid industrialization set against the natural world.From her menagerie of dogs and birds to the beloved moors that Brontë wandered and later emblazoned in her novel, Lutz depicts the passions of an author at odds with convention. Uniting the domestic and the cosmic, This Dark Night plumbs the life and writing of this idiosyncratic woman, dark soul, and monumental genius.
Widely considered one of the finest novels ever written, this timeless tale follows a young woman who, after being orphaned at a young age, is sent to a brutal boarding school. 10 years later, she accepts a job as a governess for a young girl, the ward of the enigmatic and brutish master of Thornfield Hall.Slowly but surely, she begins to fall for her erratic employer whilst she also starts uncovering his dark secrets.Directed by Robert Stevenson, best known for helming Disney’s beloved film Mary Poppins, this underrated Gothic romance from the classic Hollywood era stars Joan Fontaine as Jane and Orson Welles as Mr Rochester.Many film fans have claimed over the years that it’s one of the best adaptations of Brontë’s novel to ever be produced. It’s certainly a must-watch for viewers who have devoured recent period romances such as Wuthering Heights and The Other Bennet Sister or can’t wait for the upcoming iterations of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.One 10/10 review from an IMDb user claimed that, while other versions of Jane Eyre are just as breathtaking, fans should “see this to be fully satisfied". (Lucas Hill-Paul)
The film will be on BBC Four next Thursday, July 9, at 23:50 (GMT).
Best Actress - Margot RobbieBest Supporting Actress - Alison Oliver
Sue Ryder is inviting people from across West Yorkshire to take part in the first ever Brontë Pub Walk, a brand‑new event set in the stunning countryside that inspired the world‑famous Brontë sisters.Sponsored by Bulloughs Cleaning Services, the event - taking place on Saturday August 15 at 11am - offers a choice of five or ten‑mile routes, each featuring a series of charming refreshment stops.Walkers will take in Stanbury, Ponden and the outskirts of Oakworth before finishing on the iconic Haworth Main Street. (Hannah Britton)With eight refreshment points on the full route and six on the shorter route, the Brontë Pub Walk is designed to be a relaxed, social day out, perfect for families, groups of friends and workplace teams.
Isn't Iconic probably the most overused and misused word in the English language?
If you’re the type to imagine that literary genius might seep into the stones and the woodwork, England has book-loads of places to go. Jane Austen, the Brontës, Rudyard Kipling, William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens ... you can visit the homes of them all. (...)From York, take a spin (or the train) to Harrogate for a touch of 18th century spa town elegance, or to Haworth to see the Parsonage home of the Brontë sisters and the moors backdrop that famously inspired Emily’s Wuthering Heights. (Gemma Tipton & Úna McCaffrey)
Anne Brontë.org celebrates the 200th anniversary of Patrick Brontë's gift of twelve wooden soldiers to Branwell in 1826.
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Young Rep Seniors presentsAdapted by Polly TealeTue 7 Jul–Wed 8 Jul 2026The Studio, 7 Cannon St, Birmingham B2 5EP, United KingdomDirected by Jasmin HyltonMovement Direction by Ana Diego IversenOur Young Rep Seniors take to the stage this July with Polly Teale’s bold and imaginative adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel Jane Eyre. This powerful retelling brings the emotional intensity of Jane’s journey vividly to life, revealing the passions and hidden struggles that shape her story.As Jane grows from a lonely child into a determined young woman, she fights to define her own identity in a world that seeks to confine her. Teale’s innovative approach places Bertha, the ‘woman in the attic’, onstage as a living, breathing embodiment of Jane’s suppressed fears and desires – creating a striking and unforgettable theatrical experience.With rich ensemble storytelling, atmospheric movement and compelling performances, our Young Rep Seniors illuminate a timeless tale of love, resilience and the pursuit of freedom.A fierce, haunting, and deeply human reimagining of a beloved classic.
Tuesday 7th July6:30pm – 8pm (doors open from 6pm)Brontë BirthplaceHeritage researcher and Brontë Birthplace General Manager Anna Gibson explores the uncanny pull of Brontë Country—a landscape shaped as much by longing and myth as by history.Drawing on her experiences living, working, and walking across Brontë Country, she examines how moors, memories, and cherished objects become charged with meaning, and how the Brontës’ presence continues to haunt cultural memory, tourism, and heritage practice today.Anna’s History:After completing her MA in Heritage Studies at the University of Manchester, Anna Gibson joined the Brontë Birthplace on Market Street, Thornton, Bradford, as its first General Manager.The building was acquired through the combined support of more than 700 individual investors, together with funding from Bradford City of Culture 2025, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Community Ownership Fund, and the Rural England Prosperity Fund.Now managed by Brontë Birthplace Limited, a Community Benefit Society, the house opened to the public in March 2025.
The contemporary relevance of The Odyssey is a key issue in the film’s potential impact. Mary Beard, professor emerita of classics at Cambridge, says she is hoping for “the Wuthering Heights effect” and suggests there are deeper questions at play behind the surface narrative. “Films always bring people’s attention back to the ancient world and of the whole modern resonance of the classics. What are the big questions raised by the Odyssey and are they still ours? What does it mean to go home? What does war do to those left behind? Where does the boundary between civilisation and barbarity really lie?” (Andrew Pulver)
'Wuthering Heights' (1847)This might seem like it’s establishing a pattern of jumping back 50 years with every new entry, but that’s not the case (promise). Wuthering Heights is a real classic, since it’s not far off being 200 years old, which is wild to think about. It would've been very out there for its time, one would imagine, in terms of how dark and angst-filled it’s willing to get as a story about love… kind of? But not really a love story, being more centered on obsession and a dangerous kind of passion.You get a very strong feeling in your gut from reading Wuthering Heights, and such an experience has proven hard to translate and capture on screen, though that hasn’t stopped various people from trying. With Wuthering Heights, you do just have to read it, or maybe listen to it in full, and then it’s pretty easy to see what all the hype (a hype that has persisted for nearly two centuries) is about. (Jeremy Urquhart)
La produzione Virginy L’Isola Trovata seleziona attori e attrici per le prossime produzioni teatrali, tra cui Cime Tempestose, con Giulio Corso e Federica De Benedittis. Lavoro retribuito. Periodo di lavoro: autunno 2026. (Translation)
Behind The Glass: A Parsonage PodcastSam and Mia are joined by Dr Alessandra Pino, an expert on the intersections of the Gothic, food, and cultural memory. She co-authored The Gothic Cookbook, which digs into food themes and motifs in classic and contemporary novels from the 19th century to the present day.We look at how food is used in the Brontës' Gothic novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and why Margot Robbie's Cathy poked her finger into aspic...Say hi! Let us know if you enjoyed the episode.
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